Passchendaele
Passchendaele© BeerTourism.com
The Brewery
Emelgem (Izegem)
8870
West Flanders, Belgium
+32 (0) 51 33 51 60
Beer Style
Belgian Special Blond Ale
The Beer
Passchendaele is one of the more recent additions to the extensive range offered by Castle Brewery Van Honsebrouck. This beer was brewed in collaboration with the 'Memorial Museum' in Zonnebeke and 'Genootschap Passchendaele 1917'.
After a year’s brewery testing this beer was introduced in the early spring of 2013. It revealed itself to be a light, high fermentation beer but with a really quite modest alcohol content. This in itself is exceptional and emphases the idiosyncratic character of the brewery.
To ensure that memories of the Great War and the Battle of Passchendaele remain alive, some of the the revenue generated is to be donated to the municipality of Zonnebeke to help maintain their memorials. This is also the brewery’s way of remembering all those who lost their lives.
The beer was developed and intended to be as close as is possible to what soldiers would have drunk during the war.
Alcohol
5.2 % ABV
Fermentation
Top-fermentation, filtered, pasteurised and centrifuged.
Ingredients
This beer harks back to the basic ingredients in use at the time: malt, (Belgian) hops, yeast and water.
Colour & Transparency
Very clear and transparent beer. Golden blonde colour with a nice white frothy head.
Serving Temperature
6 °C / 42.8 °F
Serving Glass
For this unique beer, the glass selected is very far removed from that normally used for Belgian beers. It was decided to serve Passchendaele in an English pint glass. The glass is available in a half pint (25cl) and full pint format and comes with the official logo of the Passchendaele Society.
Character, Tastes & Aromas
As mentioned before, the idea behind this beer was to get close to the taste of beer brewed and and drunk in the region during WWI. To this end, the brewery carried out extensive research.
The outcome was a fresh thirst quencher with a zesty finish, thanks to the Belgian hops.
Culinary
This beer was not specifically designed to be a culinary or gastronomic beer, unlike the Trignac or Cuvée du Chateau.
Nevertheless, it is a perfect companion to delicate fish dishes or a summertime barbecue.
It also suits spicy dishes of Eastern origin, such as Thai, Indian curries or couscous. If you are enjoying this beer in Belgium you will find it makes a lovely pairing with two of the highlights of our national cuisine: mussels with fries or steak with fries.
Keeping and Storage
It was meant to be a fresh thirst quenching brew and this is how it should be enjoyed. The taste will not improve with storage.
Availability
Bottle ✔ On Tap ✔
Passchendaele was created with a view to the international market so it is widely available both within Belgium and far beyond its borders. Like Kasteel, exports reach as far afield as Australia.
Available in the Anglo-Saxon countries and in the front line countries of WWI.
Other Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck Beers
BaristaKasteel Barista Chocolate Quad is the successor to Kasteel Winter, a seasonal beer that has been discontinued. Barista is a dark degustation beer that can be enjoyed all year long - on an outdoor terrace or in front of an open fir ...
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Trignac XIITrignac from Castle Brewery Van Honsebrouck was introduced in the spring of 2013 and is far more than a tripel matured in oak barrels. It is, in fact, the first genuine tripel matured in recycled French cognac barrels. These spe ...
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Kasteel HoppyKasteel Hoppy is a recent addition to the Castle Brewery Van Honsebrouck Kasteel range. It was launched in 2013 in response to the trend for more hopped beers. This is a high fermentation blond beer, rich in hops, and thanks to th ...
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Bacchus KriekenbierBacchus Kriekenbier is a fruit beer based on Bacchus Oud Vlaams Bruin (Old Flemish Brown) with the addition of krieks (Morello cherries). The production process is similar to that of the St. Louis fruit beers (also in the hands of ...
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FilouFilou is not just yet another Belgian strong blonde, so many of which have come onto the market recently - 13 to the dozen definately does not apply here. Filou is French for rascal, and with a name like this, you would expect to ...
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